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Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies

Buddhism in Ruin

Seminar: June 8, 2019. Philadelphia.

with Glenn Wallis

This one-day intensive session revolves around the question, “What might we make of Western Buddhism today?” The question, of course, assumes that an intervention is necessary. Why? We will explore the contention that in aligning their tradition with the contemporary wellness industry, Western Buddhists evade the radical consequences of Buddhist thought. With concepts such as vanishing (anicca), nihility (shunyata), extinction (nirvana), contingency (paticcasamuppada), and no-self (anatman), Buddhism, like all potent systems of thought, articulates a notion of the “Real.” Raw, unflinching acceptance of this real is held by Buddhism to be at the very core of human “awakening.” Yet these preeminent human truths are universally shored up against in contemporary Buddhist practice, contravening the very heart of Buddhism. How does this contravention occur? And how might this disavowal be reversed? We can put the issue in Buddhist terms: how might a dedicated Buddhist once and for all “abandon the raft”?

Our text will be Glenn Wallis, A Critique of Western Buddhism: Ruins of the Buddhist Real.The critique of Western Buddhism in this text is threefold. It is immanent, in emerging out of Buddhist thought but taking it beyond what it itself publicly concedes; negative, in employing the “democratizing” deconstructive methods of François Laruelle’s non-philosophy; and re-descriptive, in applying Laruelle’s concept of philofiction as buddhofiction. Through applying resources of Continental philosophy to Western Buddhism, A Critique of Western Buddhism suggests a possible practice for our time, an “anthropotechnic”, or religion transposed from its seductive, but misguiding, idealist haven.

Facilitator: Glenn Wallis holds a Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from Harvard University. He is the author of six books including Cruel Theory/Sublime Practice and Basic Teachings of the Buddha as well as numerous articles, chapters, and essays on various aspects of Buddhism per se and Western Buddhism in contemporary society. His most recent work, A Critique of Western Buddhism: Ruins of the Buddhist Real, employs the “non-philosophical” methods of French thinker François Laruelle. Wallis has taught at Brown University, Bowdoin College, and the University of Georgia. He is the founder of the blog Speculative Non-Buddhism.

Reading: Glenn Wallis, A Critique of Western Buddhism: Ruins of the Buddhist Real (London: Bloomsbury, 2019). A printable pdf file will be sent on registration.

3 Comment on “Buddhism in Ruin”

Hello again Glen. As you know from a previous post, that there is the opinion that you are misguided. Like a warrior slashing against a windmill, you attack something that does not exist. You are fighting a strawman. While it is true that western Buddhism is very slow to dig through the Buddhist Religion down to the actual teachings of the Buddha, there is no need for you to so viciously attack the bathwater without even seeing that there is a baby therein. It is noted that you have some kind of degree or paper from harvard that you think gives you permission to attack a strawman that you studied there, but the first question is: “what does harvard know about the Buddha?”. With you as the Messenger from and for harvard, we see that harvard is lacking any knowledge of Buddha. It seems that your degree has earned you nothing like a secure ivy tower chair, so you are going for the “Hate all things” kind of money grubbing efforts to smear something it seems you know so little about. While there is no value in educating one so badly educated as you are, it would be most valuable for you to shut up and not spread more lies and bad data into a community that needs guidance and encouragement. Yet you have nothing to offer those who are in need of wisdom. Because of distance, there is little chance of a face to face meeting, and because of the paper from harvard that you now see as “ME”: “I am the harvard dude of Buddhism” there is so much clinging on your part, that there is no help for you. No need to debate you, no where to get a word in sideways into your mind, We can only hope that no one will pay any attention to you and you make no money and then just go away and shut up about it all. Glen, sir it is your harvard messed up mind that is in ruin. The Buddha Dhamma is well and laughing as you lay there in the muddy path complaining about something you know nothing about. Please get up out of you muddy mind and go find a job. Go attack psychology or Christianity or something you might know something about. In fact what you teach seems to come out of a snake oil bottle, not a world class university, and that makes you PhD charlatan. A snake oil salesman.

Well! We will just have to wait see what Tutteji has to say about this……….For buddha’s sake, as soon as you open your mouth you are misguided. It would be better for us to make something unwordy that could survive the fall of letters and numbers as well for they occupy the deepest hell.

Dhammarato. Thank you for your continued interest in my work. It will take a good deal more effort and time on your part to understand what’s going on here. As you toil on, this point may help. You write, “You are fighting a strawman.” No, I am creating a strawman. I hope that helps.